James c



* '1) c. UNDERWOOD.

"Peanut Cleaner.

No. 81,562. r v Patented Aug. 25,1868.

MPETERS, PMow-LATMOGRAPHER, WkSHINQTON. D. O.

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JAMES UNDERWOOD, OF SURRY COURT-HOUSE, VIRGINIA.

Letters Patent No. dated August 25, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN 'MAGHINE FOR PIGKING'AND'GLEANING PEANUTS.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, JAMES C. UNDERWOOD, of Surry Court-House; in thecounty of Surry, and State of Virginia, have invented an ImprovedMachine for Picking and Cleaning Peanuts; and I dohereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description of theconstruction and operation of the snme,,reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, makings. part of this specifioation., in which-Figure 1 is a side elevation, and

Figure 2 is a central longitudinal vertical section.

Like letters in the two figures of thedrawings indicate like parts.

I 7 Nature. I

.My invention consists of a machine having a cylinder provided withlongitudinal parallel'rows of teeth for separating the nuts from thevines,'and having a fanand proper aprons for cleaning and gathering thenuts.

' Construction.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my machine, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation. l

I construct a frame,',A, with a drum-end, B, in which operates the fan0, similar to an ordinary fanning-mill D is a cylinder about three (3)feet long and one and a half feet in diameter,provided withfivo parallel rows of teeth, a c c e c, arranged longitudinally with the cylinder,which rests and operates on proper axles in bearings-on the top of theframe A, about two' feet from the back end thereof, to allowithe spacefor the platform E, which is provided with the guard at. Thecylinder-axle .is made with a'square-shaft, b, which extends through andholds the driving-wheel F and crank' G,'by-which the machine isoperated. Thepulleyor smallwhe'cl H is attached to the axle of thefanwheel, for operating the fan, by means of the band K.

The teeth 0 a c c c are made of one-fourth (1-) inch rodiron, areplacedthree-eighths of an inch apart, and project three (3) inches beyond thesurface of the cylinder, and are sharpened at the ends, to avoid theliability of tearing the vines in two, if the ends were left square, andto enable the vines to pass more-readily between the teeth. i

L represents an apron extending under the cylinder and over thefan-wheel, for conducting the nuts, after being separated from thevines, to iii position where the wind from the fan will strike themproperly. The guard at is for protecting the hands from the teeth whilefeeding the machine.

i M is a bottom apron, placed at any required inclination, forconducting the sound nuts to the front of the machine, after beingseparated from the stems and unsound nuts.

N' is a cap covering the front half of the top of the cylinder,toprevent the scattering of the nuts as they are separated from thevinesby the teeth as the cylinder revolves.

O is a deflector for giving the proper direction to the current of wind,(see blue arrows.)

- Operation. 1 p

This machine may be operated by two persons. The vincscontainingthe'nuts being placed on platform E, one man turns the crank, G, whichoperates the cylinder and. fun, while the other operator placesthe vinesupon the cylinder, holding each vine by the root-ouduntil the nuts areseparated by the action of the teeth, the vines passing between them,and are then thrownjnto a pile, to be gathered for food for cattle, andthe nuts areconveyed by the cap N and'npron L to thebottom apron M, bywhich, after being separatedfrom the stems and unsound nuts, they areconducted to the front of the machine in a condition for sacking, asindicated by the red arrows in fig. 2'of the drawing. v

The simplicity of the machine renders itvery easy of operation, and freefrom liability to'getout of order, while with it two men can-accomplishas much in the same time as thirty men can by hand. Morc than twopersons may be' employed to advantage in operating the machine, and itmay be increased in size and so constructed as to beoperated by horse,water, or steam-power. A greeter or less number of rows ef teeth,arranged in parallel rows or otherwise, may be used, and the distancebetween the teeth varied as required.

Claim. Having thus described my invention,-what I claim therein as new,and desire to secure by Letters Eaten t, is- A machine having acy1inder, D, provided with rows of teeth, 0 c c c c, in combination withthe fan G, aprons L and M, and cap N, substantially in the manner andfor thepurpose as herein described.

' JAMES 0. UNDERWOOD.

Witnesses:

W. Bunn e, H. H. YOUNG.

